Sharing files – whether a central document store, a single place for backup or a huge multimedia library – is becoming more popular, and we’re seeing an increasing number of devices promise to take your regular USB storage and make it network-friendly. Latest to the SlashGear test bench is the Iomega iConnect, a compact box that can share both drives and printers to local and remote users. Cheaper and with more features out-of-the-box, can it unseat the Pogoplug? Check out our full review after the cut.
The iConnect resembles a small USB hub, measuring 6.3 x 1.1 x 5.2 inches. Ports include a single gigabit ethernet along with four USB 2.0 sockets and a power supply input; inside, meanwhile, there’s WiFi b/g/n connectivity and a 1GHz Marvell 6281 processor paired with 256MB of RAM. Iomega reckon it’ll suck just 5W while active. In the box you get the iConnect itself, an ethernet cable to hook it up to your router (if you’re not going with the wireless option), the PSU, a Quick Start guide and a CD with the full user manual and the Iomega Storage Manager app.
As a concept it’s pretty straightforward. Rather than buy a dedicated NAS (Network-Attached Storage) you plump for the iConnect and hook up cheaper USB hard-drives and thumb-drives for your shared storage. The iConnect acts as a middle-man, making the drives visible not only to computers on your local network but, assuming you have an internet connection, to remote access via a secure webpage.
It’s not just drives that you can attach, however. Up to two of the iConnect’s ports can be used to host regular USB printers, sharing them over the network too. It’s also a DLNA certified UPnP media server, and can stream content from the drives to compatible media players, whether they be computers, consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3, standalone audio/video streamers and other devices. As we’ve seen on some of the more advanced NAS units, there’s a BitTorrent download client (which means you can leave a file downloading without having to have your computer turned on), while a one-touch QuikTransfer button can be programmed to replicate a common task.
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